Category: Updates from Our Team

Yesterday we were thrilled to announce a $1.2 million grant to Drexel University to launch a program intended to help address the city’s need for Middle Years (grades 4-8) math and science teachers. Dragons Teach Middle Years (DTMY) will create a new pipeline of dual-certified teachers trained specifically for the challenges of Philadelphia classrooms. You …

Yesterday we were pleased to announce a $1.1 million grant to Roxborough High School to support an academic turnaround. The school, led by Principal Dana Jenkins, will be implementing a plan to improve academic performance by better aligning their robust career and technical education (CTE) program with their general education classes. You can read more …

Yesterday Mayor Jim Kenney joined Superintendent Dr. William Hite and other education advocates at Hill-Freedman World Academy for the School District of Philadelphia’s annual “bell-ringing” ceremony. Hill-Freedman, with the support of a nearly $2 million grant from PSP, is in the process of adding a high school to their already high-performing middle school program. You …

Today PSP announced a $1 million grant to St. Malachy Catholic School in North Philadelphia – our largest-ever grant to a Catholic elementary school. The investment will help fund a plan crafted by Principal Steve Janczewski and Assistant Principal Betsy Rafferty to turn around academic outcomes in the pre-K-8 school, which serves a student body …

This is the first policy piece written by Clifford Thomas, PSP’s Policy Manager. You can read more about Cliff here. The School District of Philadelphia has a teacher attendance problem. NewsWorks recently published a story detailing the contractual interaction between the School District of Philadelphia and Source4Teachers, the NJ firm charged this year with meeting Philadelphia’s …

Yesterday we joined partners and students to celebrate our new investment in Neumann-Goretti, a Catholic high school in South Philadelphia. Watch this clip on 6ABC Action News or read about in today’s Inquirer.The $300,000 grant is supporting the leadership team’s comprehensive plan to ensure all students are prepared for success in college or careers; specifically, the school is …

We have some great news: Last night, the SRC voted to approve three new charter schools – Esperanza, KIPP and Russell Byers (all PSP grantees) – giving 2,000 more families the opportunity for a high-quality education. The latest votes also underscore the importance of our continued fight to put quality schools above political interests. The SRC denied nine other …

We’re excited to share some news with you: 500 more students in West Philadelphia will get the opportunity to receive a high-quality education with the support of a $1.8 million grant from our Great Schools Fund. Our investment supports the expansion of Powel Elementary, one of the highest-performing neighborhood elementary schools in the entire city, and …

Last night, parents from Germantown stood up to years of systemic failure and compelled Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission to override Superintendent Hite’s recommendation to preserve the status quo at Wister Elementary School. Read about it here.As Dr. Hite put it in this morning’s Inquirer, “The SRC just felt the weight of the parents.”Following hours of impassioned …

We just learned some exciting news: Every student in Cristo Rey High School’s first graduating class has been accepted to a 4-year college! You can watch the news coverage here. Cristo Rey was one of the first Great Schools Fund grantees. The $1.3 million startup grant helped the school open its doors to low-income students in 2012, and …